Pitching Machine Makes Brock A Feared Hitter

May 2, 1986|By Frank Carroll of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — Norman Brock's formula for staying ahead of pitchers is simple: hard work. Brock has roared out of the starting blocks, hitting .451 after 19 games of a 140-game season. Brock, a clutch-hitting outfielder, has terrorized Florida State League pitchers. He is the FSL's No. 2 hitter, trailing only Tampa catcher Mark Berry (.528).

Although Brock, 24, was not drafted after a respectable career at Northwestern (Mich.) High School, the Houston Astros bet on his talent when they made him a 17th-round pick in the June 1984 draft.

Brock led Morehead (Ky) State College to the Ohio Valley Conference championship a year earlier, after transferring from Jarvis Christian Community College in Hawkins, Texas. This caught the attention of numerous major-league scouts.

Eager for the opportunity to put hisbaseball skills to a test, Brock left school six hours shy of a degree in data processing to get his professional feet wet at Auburn in the New York-Penn League where he batted .245. Last year, at Asheville, N.C., the Astros' Class A South Atlantic League franchise, he improved to .280.

Better, but not enough to satisfy Brock's minimum requirements.

One of 13 children, Brock learned to scrap for what he got early. A self- defined ''hard worker who plays hard every day,'' he is intent on becoming an ''every-day player'' for a major-league club ''by the time I'm 26. If I'm not, it'll be time to sit down and evaluate my career goals.''

Driven by a desire to reach the majors by 1986, Brock spent every extra spring-training minute sequestered in the batting cage where he pounded fastballs and curves delivered by a tireless pitching machine. A contact hitter who emulates the styles and success of George Brett and Rod Carew, both childhood idols, Brock has begun to see the extra work pay off in base hits.

''Until this year, I'd been a pull hitter who had trouble hitting to the opposite field. I've worked hard on hitting the ball where it's pitched,'' said Brock, a Detroit native, who estimates 80 percent of a team-leading 32 base hits have been to the opposite field.

Glad to see the extra work pay off, Brock, 6 feet 1, 165 pounds, is ''happy with the results. I'm even starting to hit left-handers.''

Brock's early base-hit barrage improved his career average from .266 to .292, and batting behind speedy outfielder Calvin James, his timely hitting accounts for 11 RBIs. Together, Brock and James have combined to score 39 runs. Brock, who has crossed the plate 20 times, leads the Astros in on-base percentage (.515) and has stolen eight bases in nine attempts.

Above-average speed and defensive savvy combine to make Brock a formidable outfielder who, alternating between right and left field this season, has yet to commit an error.